Marriages and Divorces, Australia provides information on marriages and divorces in Australia in 2008.

Marriage statistics provide valuable information for the analysis of family formation in Australia. This electronic product presents data at the national and state level on registered marriages by age, previous martial status, country of birth and relative country of birth of both males and females, type of celebrant, and whether couples live together prior to marriage. Crude and age-specific marriage rates are also provided.

Divorces statistics provide information on divorces granted in Australia in 2008. Key indicators of national and state divorces, based on the location of the court granting divorce, are included in the analytical commentary. Detailed divorce tables are available in the data cube which can be accessed through the 'Downloads' tab at the top of this page. Explanatory notes, abbreviations and a glossary of terms can be accessed through the 'Explanatory Notes' tab.

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.

SUMMARY COMMENTARY

MARRIAGES

In 2008, there were 118,756 marriages registered in Australia, an increase of 2,434 from 2007. The crude marriage rate has remained the same for the past three years at 5.5 marriages per 1,000 estimated resident population. The median age of males and females has varied little in the past five years with the median age at marriage remaining at 31.6 years for males and 29.3 years for females since 2006. Ceremonies performed by ministers of religion continue to fall. The number of ceremonies performed by ministers of religion decreased by 3.5%, from 43,077 in 2007 to 41,545 in 2008. The number and proportion of couples living together before marriage continues to increase gradually, rising from 89,364 (76.8% of all marriages) in 2007 to 92,220 (77.7% of all marriages) in 2008. The number and proportion of males who are marrying for the first time increased 2.8% from 89,349 in 2007 to 91,848 in 2008, while females marrying for the first time increased 2.7% from 91,368 in 2007 to 93,815 in 2008. In 2008 the number of divorced males and females remarrying has remained relatively stable at 25,032 and 22,845 respectively, although, there has been a gradual decrease in the proportion of divorced males and females remarrying. The proportion of male divorcees remarrying declined from 21.5% of all marriages in 2007 to 21.1% in 2008, while the number of female divorcees remarrying decreased from 19.6% of all marriages in 2007 to 19.2% of all marriages in 2008.

(b) 2004 data is subject to sampling error. See Explanatory Note 50 for further information.

(c) Per 1,000 of population at 30 June. See Explanatory Notes 39 and 46 for further information.

(d) Excludes marriages where the rite is not stated or not defined. Registers of ministers of religion are maintained by states and territories under the authority of the Marriage Act 1961. Data on religious marriage rites are classified to the Australian Standard Classification of Religious Groups, 1996 (ASCRG, cat. no. 1266.0).

(e) Excludes marriages where country of birth of one or both partners is not stated.

DIVORCES

In 2008, the number of divorces in Australia continued to decrease, with 754 fewer divorces than 2007. The crude divorce rate also decreased to 2.2 divorces per 1,000 estimated resident population. The median age of males at divorce decreased slightly (to 44.1 years), whilst the median age for females at divorce has risen slightly in 2008 to 41.4 years. Divorces involving children represented 48.8% of all divorces in 2008, compared to 49.3% of all divorces in 2007. The number of children involved in divorces in 2008 totalled 43,184 (a decrease from 44,371 in 2007). The average number of children per divorce remained stable in 2008 at 1.88. The median length of marriage to divorce in 2008 was 12.3 years. Median length of marriage at divorce peaked at 12.6 years in 2005 and has consistently decreased each year since then. The difference between median length of marriage to separation and divorce was 3.5 years in 2008. In 2008, the number of male and female only applicants for divorce has continued to fall. The trend towards increased joint applications for divorce has continued in 2008, representing approximately one third of all divorce applications in 2008 (35.2%).

Selected divorce indicators, Australia - Selected years - 1989-2008

1989

1999

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Divorces granted (no.)

41 383

52 566

52 747

52 399

51 375

47 963

47 209

Crude divorce rate(a)

2.5

2.8

2.6

2.6

2.5

2.3

2.2

Divorces involving children(b)

Proportion of all divorces (%)

55.3

53.9

49.8

49.8

50.1

49.3

48.8

Number of children (no.)

43 317

53 444

49 260

49 358

48 396

44 371

43 184

Median age at divorce

Males (years)

38.0

40.9

43.0

43.5

43.9

44.2

44.1

Females (years)

35.1

38.2

40.3

40.8

41.1

41.3

41.4

Median length of marriage

To separation (years)

7.3

7.9

8.7

8.8

8.9

8.9

8.8

To divorce (years)

10.2

11.3

12.3

12.6

12.5

12.5

12.3

Applicant(c)

Male (no.)

15 691

16 235

16 365

16 020

15 171

13 216

12 979

Female (no.)

20 557

26 353

21 614

21 398

20 574

18 571

17 617

Joint (no.)

5 135

9 978

14 768

14 955

15 582

16 172

16 613

(a) Per 1,000 estimated resident population at 30 June. See Glossary and Explanatory Notes 39 and 46 for more information.

(b) Unmarried children of the marriage who were aged under 18 years at the time of application for divorce. See Glossary for more information.